So how did it go?
I have been dealing with a torn meniscus that I just can’t seem to heal and this was a tough week. My injury seems to be making it very hard to stand still for long and I am using two hiking sticks to assist my walking. Needless to say this is making being in the kitchen for long very difficult.
I did not end up making all the salads, dips or the raw bread that I had intended. I did get some premade hummus and personally ate a fair bit of salad. It’s summer so that is quite appropriate anyway. Better to enjoy as much fresh, local produce when it’s available!
Because I wasn’t really ready for the week, I ended up at a loss many times. I ended up eating bread and cheese too much. Neither is really helpful when dealing with a healing issue. I had a craving for chocolate so I made a couple of smoothies with frozen bananas, almond milk or coconut milk, some coconut water and cacao. Yum! So this week, more smoothies and I will make some raw bread and crackers.
For everyone else, I made most of the meals that I had planned. Of note, I made Korean beef from my Nourishing Traditions cookbook. My suggestion is to cut down the amount of soy sauce. Everyone found it too salty. I don’t cook with much salt so we are all probably more sensitive to saltiness. I also made Quinoa salad from Oprah’s magazine. That I found to be really good, although I served it as is and not on arugula. Quinoa is difficult for me and I am going to have to come up with my own technique. Fortunately I had a lot of time and extra broth. I ended up adding almost two cups of extra broth and it took almost an hour to get nice fluffy quinoa. More on this what I have been doing wrong.
Lately I have been cooking food off the cuff. I am finding that I have not really been cooking and eating like I really personally want to. Planning ahead of time really helps me to stay on my own healthy food track and takes the stress off feeding everyone else. Usually I plan for Sunday to Sunday, but this time, I took out my cookbooks and got so excited about the things I was finding that so I decided to put 8 days of food in my weekly plan. Fortunately it’s Saturday… so tonight’s meal is now planned.
I have put salads, dips and dressings onto the plan but I haven’t designated which meal they will go with. I often do that so that I am prepared with ideas for sides that I will serve with our daily meals. Because I am primarily vegetarian, my meals often are just the ‘sides’.
I do believe in go-to foods and I use them when I forget to organize, but I also like to try lots of new foods and tastes. I’m always in search of new go-to’s, especially new ‘sides’!
I have been working on a cleanse that is a cross between the GAPS diet and the Body Ecology diet. For me that is adding bone broth, trying to cut out gluten and adding fermented foods. Without preplanning I have found that in a pinch I am looking in my kitchen and settling for what I find. Several times this has meant a sandwich or pasta. So I need to be prepared. I have added a ‘bread’ from my raw cookbooks, condiments and even kombucha to my weekly plan. These all take some time to prepare, dehydrate and/or ferment, so after the farmer’s market tomorrow, prepping it is!
Does anyone really not like the wonderful wonton?
My favourite are deep fried wontons, hot and crispy with some sort of sweet, sticky, spicy sauce to dip them into.
Although they are quite a lot of work to make, I find the process relaxing and the end result tasty. I remember making them with my son and spending an hour or so filling and folding. It’s an activity that most kids will enjoy doing. Be sure to make extras for late night snacking or putting in lunches as an extra treat.
Since you are in control of the fillings wontons are really versatile. For more traditional fillings, use crumbled fake ‘meat’ for the vegetarians or real meat for the carnivores – same everything else. Chopped vegetable mixtures would be wonderful as are mixtures of cheese and fruit.
As I try to cut out some of the transfats, I will be working towards improving my technique on steaming – as this is the most healthy method. The last time I tried to make them was an absolute disaster. After an hour or two of work, I ended up over steaming the poor wontons… a very scary, gooey mess resulted.
Another technique would be to oven bake the wontons. A oiled baking sheet will probably have to be used and perhaps a light spray on top to give the effect of fried crispiness. I will write when I have had the time to get this experiment underway.
I have not checked but the store bought wrappers that I have bought in the past have not been gluten free. I will be on the lookout at our local specialty grocery stores for a gluten free version. Using zucchini I have made a raw version of wontons and I have also made dough made with vegetables, flax and sometimes various nuts with my dehydrator that ended up with a product that resembled a wonton wrapper.
So here was the plan for this week
In general, the meals were pretty easy. I had one major fail though… I need to practise steaming wontons. I can’t even bring myself to take a picture. What a gummy mess! My family were troopers though. They took the filling out and pretended that there were no wonton wrappers. It was a bit labor intensive to eat which is unfortunate because the process of making wontons is also labor intensive.
There were some leftovers which I personally love. It makes lunch easy to pack or eat on the go.
Here is a blank sample form you can use to create your weekly menu
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